Nathalie
Tauziat has dramatically been asked to stand down from the French
Federation de Tennis’ (FFT) management committee after the 45 year-old
former world no.3 testified in favor of her former
coach Regis de Camaret who was found guilty of raping two young players
aged 12 and 13 years of age.

Tauziat, a Wimbledon
finalist in 1998 appeared before the court in Lyon and maintained
she did not believe those who accused 70 year-old de Camaret who was
subsequently found guilty and sentenced to eight years in prison.

Gilbert Ysern, the
FFT director general and without doubt the most powerful man in French
tennis, maintained: "Nathalie Tauziat's statement at the trial was
deeply disturbing. On Monday we will ask her to resign from the
management committee."

Tauziat was adamant
she saw no evidence of the charges against de Camaret and went so far as
to insist she did not believe his accusers, especially her former
doubles partner Isabelle Demongeot.

The allegations
center around the tennis academy, run by de Camaret in the fashionable
Mediterranean resort of St. Tropez in 1970s and ‘80s. In total, 20 of
his former pupils have accused him of rape, attempted rape or fondling
between 1977 and 1989.

‘A lack of evidence’
was cited as the reason the original case against De Camaret was dropped
in 2009 and the statute of limitations had run out on all but two of the
accusers. Stephanie Carrouget and Karine Pomares, both now aged 36,
persevered.

In his defense, de
Camaret denied the charges but admitted that the atmosphere at his
academy “encouraged promiscuity,” has been banned from working in tennis
for life. In addition de Camaret’s lawyer claimed the case was a complex
conspiracy theory hatched by Demongeot, bitter at her rival Tauziat’s
success.

However a delighted
Demongeot was quoted by AFP after the conclusion of the trial. “Tonight
he is in prison, he is the victim now,” she said. “It was a long battle,
and you can see we have been affected beside it.”